What If Season 3 just introduced the MCU’s weirdest character to date

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of weird and wonderful characters, but What If Season 3 just introduced a character so odd she makes Groot look normal, and he’s a bloody talking tree!

In the episode ‘What If… Howard the Duck Got Hitched?’, the titular space duck marries Darcy Lewis – who you may remember from the Thor movies – and they have a kid. Yes, you read that right. Howard gets Darcy pregnant, and she lays a giant egg. 

While the biological implications of that are disquieting enough, things only get weirder from there.

It turns out that the egg was lain during a cosmic event known as Convergence, which means the duck-human hybrid is meant for great things, and several of the MCU’s biggest villains want the chick for their own nefarious ends.

The hierarchy of the MCU is about to change

Thankfully, Howard and Darcy manage to keep the egg safe, which eventually hatches, revealing their child, Byrdie. Byrdie uses her vast cosmic powers to vaporize the villains out to get her and all seems well.

So what makes Byrdie such an unusual character? Well, did you read the bit where I said she’s a duck-human hybrid (again, don’t think about it too much; the implications are simply too disturbing)? If that’s not odd enough for you, what about the fact she’s one of the most powerful characters ever introduced to the MCU?

Disney+

As a baby, she vaporized armies of Dark Elves, Olympians, and even Thanos himself. Yes, you read that right. The same Thanos who tore through the Avengers like an excited kid on Christmas day, ripping through wrapping paper. 

What’s more, Byrdie is one of only a handful of original superheroes introduced in the MCU; she has no comic equivalent and is an entirely new creation. A new idea from Marvel!? That’s even harder to wrap my head around than how Darcy managed to push that egg out of… nope. Don’t think about it.

Anyway, if you want to know more about Byrdie, she’s set to appear again in the What If Season 3 finale, where she’ll be voiced by the one and only Natasha Lyonne. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see Byrdie in Secret Wars when the whole multiverse starts to collapse in on itself.

Looking for more Marvel hot takes? Check out our ranking of every MCU movie. We’ve also got guides to all the upcoming Marvel movies, including Captain America 4, Avengers: Doomsday, and even Secret Wars.